Business · Energy & Commodities · 4 hrs ago
36 companies qualify for Brazil’s first direct sale of Union-owned gas
Brazil’s state-owned PPSA says 36 companies qualified to bid in its first direct gas sale to industry.
The auction, scheduled for Thursday, will offer gas from the country’s pre-salt fields that belongs to the government.
Until now, Petrobras bought this gas, while the government has sold its share of oil through auctions since 2018.
The initial offer is 1.1 million cubic metres a day, divided among industries including glass, steel, chemicals and fertilisers.
The government hopes direct sales will increase competition and lower gas prices, but the offer is small compared with the amount supplied to the market.
The gas will be delivered at the Boaventura Energy Complex in Itaboraí, and buyers must arrange pipeline transport to their factories.
Separately, a public hearing on rules intended to reduce Petrobras’s role in gas sales was postponed from October 21 to November 19; the company welcomed the delay.
PPSA said 36 companies qualified to compete in Brazil’s first direct sale of Union-owned natural gas to industry.
The auction is scheduled for Thursday, October 24.
The initial offer is 1.1 million cubic metres of gas per day, divided into 110 lots.
The government says direct sales are intended to increase competition and lower gas prices.
Gas will be delivered at the Boaventura Energy Complex in Itaboraí, Rio de Janeiro state.
- Who
- Thirty-six companies qualified to compete. PPSA, the state company, is holding the auction.
- What
- Brazil is holding its first direct sale of Union-owned natural gas to industry.
- When
- The auction is scheduled for Thursday, October 24.
- Where
- Gas will be delivered at the Boaventura Energy Complex in Itaboraí, Rio de Janeiro state.
- Why
- The government aims to increase competition in the gas market and lower prices.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
PPSA announced that 36 companies had qualified for the auction.
The first direct sale of Union-owned gas is scheduled to take place.
- Qualified companies
- 36
- Initial volume
- 1.1 million cubic metres per day
- Number of lots
- 110 lots of 10,000 cubic metres per day
- Delivery point
- Boaventura Energy Complex, Itaboraí, Rio de Janeiro state
- Minimum premium bid
- US$1.80 per million BTU
What people are saying
The postponement benefits the proper conduct of the regulatory process, allowing the public debate not to be held hastily and the short-, medium- and long-term impacts to be better assessed.